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michaeltyesterday at 8:01 PM1 replyview on HN

The point of saying and writing things is to be understood by your audience.

If I know a given wording is widely misunderstood, to the point I'm planning to immediately follow it with a clarification - often that's a sign it's not a very good wording.

There are exceptions, of course - go ahead and say Cephalopods (things like octopuses and squid) if you're a marine biology educator.


Replies

johnisgoodyesterday at 8:47 PM

I am pretty sure the term "synergistic" is widely used among laymen as well in the context of supplements and medications.

So yeah, sure, context does matter.